Hatcheries, input dealers, farmers, collectors and processors are the primary actors of shrimp value chain in the Mekong River Delta (MRD) Vietnam, a sector that has many problems of disease, shrimp seed ... [more ▼]

Hatcheries, input dealers, farmers, collectors and processors are the primary actors of shrimp value chain in the Mekong River Delta (MRD) Vietnam, a sector that has many problems of disease, shrimp seed, environmental pollution, and management skills. Holding the strongest power in the shrimp value chain, the processors determine shrimp prices and set up requirements of shrimp quality and size in the market though quality control has not been completely implemented due to the limitations of financial capital, knowledge, awareness, as well as the quality of raw material supplied by collectors and farmers. Farmers stayed in the weakest position in the chain due to their small individual scale, and low skills. The results of the study show that most of the shrimp farmers stay out of vertical integration under farming contracts while the rest joined in the game without success. Contract farming seems not for small scale farmers who account for a large part in the MRD, and not interesting for producers who get success with their cultivation. Farmers prefer a non-contract option due to non-transparency of interest share as well as cost account. Food safety standards, decision No. 80/2002/QĐ-TTg, culture, trust, government structure, credit support and corruption are the main factors affecting farmers’ integration chances. Floor price mechanism, risk sharing, small scale of the model of vertical integration and excess suppliers in the market, administrative misconception and inefficient public management are the main reasons of failures of contract farming of two case studies in the MRD. Planning and projection of shrimp production zones are therefore the priority matters to address. Furthermore, re-organizing shrimp farmers into legal teams or groups or cooperatives is also necessary to increase the size of the existing shrimp cultivation units in Vietnam in order to improve the sector. [less ▲]